


Stranger Ways

by villaintohero



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: AND DRAMA, Canon-Typical Violence, Driving into madness, F/M, Fiona is in Vault Hunter training, Jack/Rhys and August/Sasha are just side-ships, NSFW, Romance, Slow Burn Relationship, Vault Hunters as side-characters, also bounty hunting, at some point, going on missions together, in many ways, lots of love, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 13:10:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11532921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villaintohero/pseuds/villaintohero
Summary: The Vault Of The Traveler is gone. And the memories of the time inside are nothing more than just a faint memory, deep in the back of Fionas mind. Trying to forget about that weird feeling inside of her, she starts her training as a Vault- and Bounty Hunter with Athena. But sometimes, no matter how peaceful and perfect the moment seems, some things catch up after a while. // Vaughn X Fiona is the main ship // Rhys/Jack and Sasha/August are just side-ships//





	Stranger Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first actual fanfiction about these two and I am glad that I can contribute something to this awesome ship!
> 
> || Important: The Rating might get higher and I'll may or may not add some more Warnings with time, the more the story develops and the more ideas get to my mind. ||  
> *Also, I'm bad at tagging, might add some more things to that as well
> 
> Reviews, Kudos and alike are always welcome ♥  
> See yah in the next Chapter.

 

Tears. Of course, she would be crying. What kind of mother would she have been if she wouldn’t be mourning the death of her only son? After months and months of waiting, praying and hoping to hear something from him, just a little sign that he was still there, still alive.

And then some stranger would step up to her, tell her the story of how her son saved them in a mission that shouldn’t have concerned him at all… The words coming out of her mouth, every insult, every angry and desperate way to tell the girl that it was her fault, Fiona took it. She took it all. Because there was not much else to be done, and she would have been lying if she would have told herself, that she didn’t think about how it had been their fault that Scooter died like this.

Sure, he died a hero…

“ _I don’t want a dead hero! I want my son! Alive and here!”_

but this was no comfort for those who had lost him.

Fiona held back her tears though, she was good at that, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good if she had a breakdown in front of Moxxi. No, Fiona had no right to cry and let her emotions flow like that. Not now, anyway. Not in front of Scooters mother.

And as she watched the beautiful woman in front of her, her mind wandered, wandered back to the time out there, away from Pandora and in outer space. How Scooter had smiled, even though he knew that he was dying. How he saved them all without even batting an eye, without second thoughts. And all she could give him for all of this, was to tell his sister and his mother about it. Tell them, how he did some ‘Awesome Shit’ to save their asses, while they were trying to save their own from Vallory and her goons. And once again, the thought occurred in her mind, that Scooter didn’t even need to help them. He didn’t need to come with them and he damn as hell didn’t need to care at all. But yet, he did. And there was still nothing left of him. Nothing more than his shops, the advertisement that was floating around in Pandoras atmosphere and his family that had nothing more to hold onto.

The ghost, the quiet figurine behind her, the one that no one was paying attention to at that moment, hesitantly and softly placed a hand of his on her back, to soothe and comfort her. To let her know that she didn’t need to stand through this alone.

It didn’t do much. It didn’t help the bad feeling from growing in her chest and It didn’t help her in the slightest to hold her tears back. But Fiona appreciated the thought, appreciated that she wasn’t alone in all of this. Even though she kind of wished for Moxxi to have someone that comforted her, as well. Something else than the thoughts of her son dying in a huge explosion, probably nowhere to be found anymore. Just gone.

 

“Thank you, by the way.”

Finally, both stepped out into the bright and hot wasteland of Pandora once again, after leaving the bar. The smaller man next to her shielded his eyes from the sun for a moment, before he just looked back up to her. He looked confused, unsure what to say for a moment. So, he sank his arm again, pulling up his hood once more, before they both started walking towards their car.

“For what? I didn’t exactly do anything.”, Vaughn was looking up to the slightly taller woman walking next to him. His features had softened since they had left the bar. He wasn’t as tense anymore and was probably just glad that this was finally over. Hopefully no more tears for the day.

“You were there, and that was already plenty.”, Fiona said, a faint smile on her lips, that didn’t exactly reach her eyes. This day had been rough. Rougher than she liked to admit. First, they had to go and get to Scooters sister Elli, tell her the bad news and watch her break down… and then Moxxi. So, no, Fiona wasn’t sure if she could have handled any of this on her own. And if it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do, she would have stayed away. But no, that’s what she owed Scooters family. “God… I think I need a drink. Or a bullet straight through my head. Either would be fine.”, the woman mumbled, wiping a stray strand of hair out of her face. Vaughn next to her, smiled at that.

“I think we can do something about the first option. … Or… well, here on Pandora the second option is also not so unlikely to be honest. I… uhm… would prefer the first one, still.”

As the young man looked up to Fiona again, seeing her smirk at the stupid stuff he said, his own smile just spread a little more. At least he was able to cheer her up somehow. At least that, since he couldn’t do much else for her. Since she had told him to stay out of all of this. After all, he hadn’t been there as all of that happened.

“I appreciate that you wouldn’t want me to get shot. Thanks for that.”, finally, her eyes were shining just slightly brighter. Almost unnoticeable if Vaughn wouldn’t have paid as much attention to her. „Oh man... still. A drink doesn‘t sound all too bad, if you ask me.“, she stopped for a moment, looking back at the bar, far in the distance, snickering after a short while.

„Huh? What is it?“

„It‘s just... I know it‘s horrible, and I am sorry, but would it be all too weird if I got back and ordered a drink?“

Vaughn was stunned for a moment, silent as he was looking up to her. Fiona already felt bad thanks to him staring like that, but then, he just chuckled quietly. What a relief.

„Alright, yeah, go and do that. But I‘ll just wait over here and... observe from a safe distance.“

Laughing. They both were just laughing. It was probably horrible, considering what kind of joke they just made, after that scene from just a few minutes ago, but still. It felt good. It felt relieving. It felt as if all of the weight that had gathered on their shoulders, was finally lifted, even if just for a moment.

Finally.

„Well, maybe not that much of a good idea.“, a smile, so soft and thin on her lips, directed to Vaughn who took a deep breath: „Man, that‘s horrible. We‘re horrible. We shouldn‘t laugh about this. You shouldn‘t have started this.“

„Yet you‘re still smiling, Mr ‚Bandit-King‘.“

„Out of sympathy.“

„Sure..“, and with a swift motion of her hand, she ordered him to follow her, to walk further with her, back to the car to get back home to leave this day, and all the stuff it carried and dragged along, behind for good.

 

The car ride was long. Far too long and far to quiet for Vaughns liking. Especially since their radio got kind of smashed as some random bandit-car bashed into them. The car was soon dealt with but awkward silence was present ever since. So it was just natural for his mind to wander, as he was staring at the sand, the endless wasteland lying ahead of them.

It was still weird, being reunited after everything went down so fast. After they had defeated the Vault Monster, after everything was about to calm down, Fiona and Rhys, both were gone. Without a trace. Without anything that could lead to them.  
He remembered the endless search out in the desert. He remembered Sasha breaking down at some point, shouting and crying out for Fiona. And he remembered just standing there, being unable to move, not sure what to say or what to do. Feeling helpless. Usually he had been the first to comfort someone that was feeling down, but right in that moment, he wasn‘t able to anymore. He had been tired, he had been exhausted and most of all, he had been on nerves end.

Vaughn remembered searching for both of them for weeks to come, without any trace and without any goal in sight. Vaughn remembered the time, they all thought that Fiona and Rhys were dead.

And that was merely two weeks ago.

„Hey, what are you thinking about? You seem a bit spaced out.“

Fionas voice right next to him ripped him out of his thoughts, catching him by surprise once again. She was good at that. And finally his eyes darted away from all the sand outside of their car, to look back to her.  
„I... was? Sorry. Uhm, where you saying something?“

„Could we switch seats for a moment? My eyes are growing tired from all that... nothing.“

Vaughn had to smile slightly at that, at her choice of words, at the way she was leaning back in her seat and yawning for a moment. „Sure.“

 

„So, what were you thinking about?“, Fiona broke the silence after a few minutes in which Vaughn had been driving. Her legs were up on the board, making herself more comfortable in her seat. Vaughn on the other hand, was still staring at the road.

„It‘s really nothing important.“

„For ‚nothing important‘ you seemed pretty zoned out, little man.“

Vaughn couldn‘t help but smile so slightly at that comment, even though he wished he wouldn‘t. Maybe it was something in her tone. At least she wasn‘t trying to mock him. „Yeah, guess so.“ And then, silence once again.

This time, Fiona didn‘t interrupt it. Instead she waited for him to answer, if he would answer at all. She knew that feeling all too well, not wanting to speak about some things. „I was... just thinking about the recent events, you know?“

Fiona didn‘t need to answer.

„You know... as the Vault disappeared and.. you and Rhys just suddenly grew out of thin air again... it‘s so weird. Like... we thought you guys were dead. Don‘t get me wrong, I‘m glad that you are back, I just don‘t really understand what was happening or.. in general. It doesn‘t make a whole lot of sense to me-“

„To me neither.“, her words interrupted his, and as he was looking over to her in the other seat, he could see that she had pulled her legs back onto her seat, wrapping her arms around them, as she was looking out the side-window. „Hell, I don‘t even remember what happened. I remember that Rhys and I got into the Vault and then... everything is just a blur. Like, I feel there is something but-“

„But you can‘t grasp it? Like... it‘s there but at the same time it isn‘t?“

„... yeah. Like that.“

Vaughn was thinking of something to say, the feeling that this conversation just made the regular mood on that day much, much worse. „Uh.. Fiona-“

„It‘s okay, really. Haven‘t really talked about it since we‘re back, huh?“

„Yeah, but that doesn‘t mean that you have to.“

 

She remembered the time they were back... how she found her consciousness out in the desert with a heavy headache and her mind empty of thoughts. How she just lay there, without moving a muscle, as if she was paralyzed, until she could hear a voice calling out to her. Her sister, Sasha. It was still a blur in her mind, but she regained control over her body just a short while later.

Of course, the others had asked them before what had happened, where exactly they have been. But mostly, none of the words coming into her minds made sense. Nothing had seemed real to her at that moment. She couldn‘t remember, but knew that there was something hiding. Like waking up from a dream and trying to remember certain parts, certain actions in your dream. But the more you look, the more you think, it becomes blurrier and in the end, everything would turn to black.

Naturally, she told them that she couldn‘t remember anything. Because this was the truth in some ways.

 

She wasn‘t sure for how long she didn‘t speak. For how long she didn‘t even make an attempt to say something or how long she had been staring out the window on the side. Watching everything float by and at the same time, not actually seeing anything at all.  
But at some point, Vaughn broke the silence.  
„You know... you shouldn‘t overthink those things. I uhm.. can imagine it‘s hard, but... in the end you won‘t do yourself any good. Overthinking never does. Especially when you‘re just running in circles... or... something like that.“

Fiona didn‘t answer just yet, instead she took a moment to just look over to him, to watch him for a small amount of time. „Uh... I ruined the mood, right? I‘m sorry... happens... too often to be honest.“, of course he was feeling bad now. That was just how he was. And Fiona had spent enough time with him to figure that much out about him.

„Don‘t worry. Wasn‘t like this day was built on a high mood to begin with. I guess today is just ... i don‘t know. Let‘s just get back, okay?“

Vaughn didn‘t say anything further. Probably didn‘t dare to. This day had been messed up to begin with, and to be honest, he just wanted it gone. Just like that.

But since there was nothing more to add to her wish to get back home, he just drove on.

Quietly sinking into his own thoughts

 


End file.
